Clearinghouse Announces Special Issue on Hunger & Food Insecurity

The increasing problem of food insecurity in America has led Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy to choose Hunger and Food Insecurity as its 2012 special issue topic.

The announcement can be found on the Shriver Brief blog in a post by Michele Host, Clearinghouse Review Announces Its 2012 Special Issue Topic: Hunger and Food Insecurity.

Clearinghouse supports its selection with the following sobering statistics -

In 2010, 40.3 million people received monthly benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), up from 33.7 million people in 2009 and more than double the number of food stamp recipients in 2002. Participation in school meal programs also increased, and 32 million children now participate in school meal programs each day. Food insecurity is especially troublesome among older adults, given the population’s particular health and medical needs. From 2001 to 2009, the number of older Americans at risk of hunger increased by 79 percent.

The announcement, however, is more than a call to legal services attorneys.  The significance and the complexity of food insecurity problems speak to a much wider audience and the call to action is for innovation and collaboration. The post speaks to many groups -

As the number of food-insecure Americans grows, it will not be enough for only those legal services attorneys specializing in benefits to confront the hunger problem. To end hunger in America, advocates from many disciplines—health, education, economic development, and housing, to name a few—will need to focus on food. 

I would add to that list -  groups central to Agricultural Law -  agricultural and food law professors in addition to those practicing poverty law, farmers, and farm advocates.

Note that Clearinghouse Review has already been a leader in publishing in the area of food law and poverty, e.g.,

• Barbara Jones, Should States Allow Poor People to Use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits at Fast-Food Chains? (November-December 2011);

• Dan Lesser and Deanne Millison, An Emerging Issue in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Should Participants Be Subject to New Identification Requirements? (November-December 2011);

• Karen K. Harris and Ji Won Kim, The Next Frontier in Public Benefits:  Electronic Benefit Cards (May-June 2011);

• David A. Super, Low-Income College Students' Eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (March-April 2011).

The announcement of the special issue concludes with the following invitation:

If you are interested in learning more about Clearinghouse Review’s 2012 special issue, please contact Staff Attorney-Legal Editor Michele Host. The editorial team welcomes suggestions regarding topics and authors. If you or your organization is interested in sponsoring the 2012 special issue, contact Brendan Short.

Special thanks to Vade Donaldson, a public interest attorney with a Public Interest Law specialty certification who is a candidate in the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law this year. Vade discovered the Clearinghouse announcement and passed it on to me.  Another advantage to my position as Director of the LL.M. Program -  a virtual army of interested attorneys keeping me on my toes.